Insect pathogenicity in plant-beneficial pseudomonads: phylogenetic distribution and comparative genomics

Bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas occupy diverse environments. The Pseudomonas fluorescens group is particularly well-known for its plant-beneficial properties including pathogen suppression. Recent observations that some strains of this group also cause lethal infections in insect larvae, however,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The ISME Journal Vol. 10; no. 10; pp. 2527 - 2542
Main Authors: Flury, Pascale, Aellen, Nora, Ruffner, Beat, Péchy-Tarr, Maria, Fataar, Shakira, Metla, Zane, Dominguez-Ferreras, Ana, Bloemberg, Guido, Frey, Joachim, Goesmann, Alexander, Raaijmakers, Jos M, Duffy, Brion, Höfte, Monica, Blom, Jochen, Smits, Theo H M, Keel, Christoph, Maurhofer, Monika
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.10.2016
Oxford University Press
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:
45
45/23
45/70
631/208/212
631/326/171/1818
631/326/41/2531
Agricultural practices
Animals
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Genomics
Host Specificity
Insects
Integrated pest management
Larva - microbiology
Larvae
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera - microbiology
Life Sciences
Microbial Ecology
Microbial Genetics and Genomics
Microbiology
Original
original-article
Pathogens
Pest control
Phylogeny
Plants - microbiology
Pseudomonas
Pseudomonas - genetics
Pseudomonas - isolation & purification
Pseudomonas - pathogenicity
Pseudomonas - physiology
Pseudomonas chlororaphis
Pseudomonas fluorescens
Virulence
ISSN:1751-7362, 1751-7370, 1751-7370
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas occupy diverse environments. The Pseudomonas fluorescens group is particularly well-known for its plant-beneficial properties including pathogen suppression. Recent observations that some strains of this group also cause lethal infections in insect larvae, however, point to a more versatile ecology of these bacteria. We show that 26 P. fluorescens group strains, isolated from three continents and covering three phylogenetically distinct sub-clades, exhibited different activities toward lepidopteran larvae, ranging from lethal to avirulent. All strains of sub-clade 1, which includes Pseudomonas chlororaphis and Pseudomonas protegens , were highly insecticidal regardless of their origin (animals, plants). Comparative genomics revealed that strains in this sub-clade possess specific traits allowing a switch between plant- and insect-associated lifestyles. We identified 90 genes unique to all highly insecticidal strains (sub-clade 1) and 117 genes common to all strains of sub-clade 1 and present in some moderately insecticidal strains of sub-clade 3. Mutational analysis of selected genes revealed the importance of chitinase C and phospholipase C in insect pathogenicity. The study provides insight into the genetic basis and phylogenetic distribution of traits defining insecticidal activity in plant-beneficial pseudomonads. Strains with potent dual activity against plant pathogens and herbivorous insects have great potential for use in integrated pest management for crops.
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ISSN:1751-7362
1751-7370
1751-7370
DOI:10.1038/ismej.2016.5